Christmas 2009!!

I guess this post is what you could call long overdue! But the holidays were very full and very busy so blogging fell a bit by the wayside.

I have enough information to fit into 3 blog posts! so I'm going to attempt to condense it all for you ;)

First of all, Christmas was wonderful. It was spent here at my parents house and we celebrated with my brother and his sweet girlfriend, Gretchen. We had such a great time, and Peyton won the award for biggest pile of presents! She was lavished on by both sets of grandparents and even her great-grandparents! She absolutely LOVED opening all the brightly colored presents and I think she chewed on about 5 or 6 bows throughout the day! Her new toys were a big hit!





My sweet husband bought me an outfit I'd been asking for (I was so touched that he bought me clothes! He's really improving on the shopping front ;) My mom and dad bought me the earrings I've been wanting and a gorgeous white sweater and of course, there was plenty of chocolate!! Yum! It was a great Christmas morning.

That evening, the real shocker came! Bryan pulled me into our room and announced that there was one more present. I looked at him with a smile, and he quickly explained that it was NOT from him. He handed me a wrapped gift with the label "To: Claire, From: SANTA!" I was overwhelmed with curiosity and quickly opened it... no sooner had I realized what I was holding than tears started POURING out of my eyes! I started sobbing!!! Guess what, bloggers???? Remember my post called I have a Dream? Well there in my hands was Adobe Illustrator CS4!!!! I was stunned. When Bryan told me who it was from... I was beyond stunned. My mouth hung open and a whole new round of tears began! I'm not sure if the person wants me to announce their identity so we'll keep it a secret for now ;) But let's just say it's a very old, dear friend who read my blog and decided to make my dream come true. And to you, I say again... THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

So my blog readers, dreams really do come true!!! Now of course, I have a lot of practice and learning ahead of me... but I do it all with a smile on my face and an irrepressible joy in my heart... and well, of course, the knowledge that I am very, very blessed!

I have more news, actually that I need to let you all know about... but it will have to wait for another post (maybe later today) because I have a beautiful little girl that woke up a little too early from her morning nap who is begging for me to play with her!

I hope you all had an incredible Christmas!

I have a Dream...

When I was a student at Bethany College of Missions I worked in the admissions office. While there, I stumbled upon a hidden passion I didn't even know I had. I fell in love with Graphic Design. Fell head over heels in love, actually.

I was able to excercise my new found talent in small ways, revamping documents and admissions materials. I loved the emphasis on detail, the motivation for intricate perfection, and the satisfaction of an attractive completed design.

Since then, I have had very little opportunity to expose myself to designing. Marriage and then motherhood became my main gigs. But the dream never completely disappeared.

Now that Peyton is growing and I'm remembering me again... The me apart from pregnancy. The me apart from motherhood, the me as I am deep inside... I realize that this passion is still very forefront. It's a useful passion, admittedly. There is so much demand in today's society. It is also very competitive. But I can't shake this dream from my heart.

It is perhaps a long-off vision. But it's one that I hope to pursue one day. One day when I have a little me time again. Perhaps an online degree? Perhaps an investment in some resources (software, books, etc). What's great about it, is it's something I can pursue from home. Being immersed in our ministry right now, I'm not sure how close at hand this vision is. But, hey, a girl can dream, right?

What I'm doing right now to pursue this, is saving up Amazon gift cards that I earn through Swagbucks. okay, bear with me because I might sound like a sales girl for about 5 seconds... but I use Swagbucks instead of Google, and win "digital dollars". For every 45 that I earn, I redeem a $5 Amazon gift card. Swagbucks are easy to earn and I typically win about 2 a day from searching for the same things I would typically search google for. Eventually I'd like to purchase Adobe Illustrator. Once again, perhaps a far-off dream, but one that I'm slowing chasing.

What's your dream? What is your secret passion that you want to pursue for you? I don't want this post to sound self centered. But in all seriousness, what do you wish you could do? If you were to take a little time and do something to better yourself, for yourself?